1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to scent and, more particularly, to a scent delivery device which is worn by a user or housed in a portable electronic device such as a mobile telephone. The device allows the user to breath a variety of scents by means of diffusion through the open air.
2. Art Related to the Invention
Portable electronic devices that store, transmit and display information are common commercial devices such as personal digital assistants (PDA), portable televisions, portable cassette players, portable radios, portable compact disc players, portable digital versatile disc (DVD) players, hand-held computer game apparatus (e.g. Game Boy®), laptop and hand-held computers, and mobile or wireless telephones. These well-known, commercially available devices are portable and allow a user to communicate without the need for a wire between users, to play complex computer games, store data as well as a wide variety of other personal uses. For example mobile telephones come in a variety of configurations, but are all generally hand-held units which fit into a user's pocket and operate anywhere in the world.
A portable scent delivery device is disclosed in International Patent Application Publication No. WO 99/01793 published Jan. 14, 1999. Such a device employs a case which houses scent containers, a mask which is worn by the user, a conduit which connects the case to the mask and a fan which moves scented air from the case through the conduit and to the mask. Such a device constitutes a closed air system.
The device of the '793 Publication relies on convection or flow of scented air through a closed conduit system to move the scented air to the user's nose. Other prior art systems have also relied on fluid flow to move scent to a user's nose. A number of these prior art systems are open air systems which move the scent through the open air by means of a fan or pump. However, such systems tend to be bulky and not adaptable to miniaturization.
There is a need for a miniaturized scent delivery device that can be easily incorporated into portable electronic devices or worn by a user without appreciably increasing the bulk or weight of these portable electronic devices or interfering with the movement of the user.